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- If you dream that you are pregnant: According to Ellis, dreams are typically metaphoric and symbolic—so no, dreaming you're pregnant doesn't mean you actually are (though it doesn't mean you're not).
- If you dream about giving birth: Along those same lines, to give birth in the dream would symbolize a creative project coming to fruition. For example, Ellis tells mbg she had lots of pregnancy dreams when she was working on her book, A Clinician's Guide to Dream Therapy, and then dreamed of a birth process when the book was released.
- If you dream that someone else is pregnant: Ellis notes there's a range of possibilities if you're dreaming someone you know is pregnant but thinking back to the creativity theme, "It could mean you are involved in a creative process but that someone else is carrying the load, taking the credit, or doing something creative that you might be wanting for yourself."
- If you dream that a stranger is pregnant: If you're dreaming of a pregnant stranger, perhaps even witnessing a birth, it could mean that you are "dissociated in some way from your own creative process," Ellis says.
- You Are Ready To Settle Down. Having a dream about being pregnant can be interpreted as being ready to settle down, especially if you feel content and secure in the dream.
- Something is Beginning. A dream where you are expecting can sometimes mean that something in your life is beginning. This is usually the case if the dream is about you being in the early stage of pregnancy, such as having just conceived, or finding out you are pregnant at a clinic or during a home test.
- You Are Experiencing a Loss. A pregnancy dream where you dream about a miscarriage, or about losing a pregnancy or losing a baby during birth, can signify you are experiencing a loss of some kind in your life.
- You Are Unprepared for Something. Sigmund Freud based many of his conclusions on his assumptions that all women have a desire for pregnancy and motherhood, and thus likely attributed pregnancy-related dreams to this.
People also ask
Can you dream about pregnancy?
Are Pregnancy Dreams literal or symbolic?
What does dreaming about a positive pregnancy mean?
- Overview
- 1. The dreamer is pregnant
- 2. Someone else is pregnant
- 3. Someone is telling you they are pregnant
- 4. Pregnant with twins
- 5. Unplanned pregnancy
- 6. Pregnancy anxiety
- Other fun facts about dreams
- The bottom line
The research on dreams isn’t concrete, but psychologists theorize that pregnancy dreams are likely related to your subconscious thoughts, as opposed to sleep-induced predictions.
Dreams have long been debated and interpreted for their underlying, psychological meanings. This is also true for specific dreams, such as those about being pregnant.
Dreaming itself is a type of hallucination that occurs during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Dreams tend to be linked more to your emotional thoughts, rather than logic — this could explain why you may have woken up from “strange” dreams, on occasion.
While dreams about being pregnant can be interpreted in different ways, there’s yet to be any proof that any specific dream is rooted in reality. Much of the dreams that can “come true” about being pregnant have more to do with your subconscious than anything else.
One theory behind dreams about being pregnant is that the dreamer themself is pregnant. You might wake up from this type of dream either imagining your life during pregnancy, or even with feelings as if you’re pregnant, such as a fuller belly or morning sickness.
Whatever the exact meaning, pregnancy is likely on your mind in some way for this type of dream to occur.
Dreaming about pregnancy may even go beyond yourself. It’s possible to have dreams that someone else is pregnant, whether it’s your partner, a friend, or a family member.
Rather than a random dream, this type of dream content is more likely attributed to knowledge about you or another couple who may be trying to get pregnant.
There’s also talk about dreams where someone else tells you that they’re pregnant. Perhaps you are a parent of an adult child thinking about becoming a grandparent. Or, perhaps you have friends or other loved ones who have expressed their desires to have children.
Such interactions and thoughts that occur during your wakeful hours can enter your subconscious emotions. That may work its way into your dreams.
Another common pregnancy dream is one where a couple is pregnant with twins. Having such a dream doesn’t mean you will be pregnant with twins, but rather you are subconsciously considering the possibility of this scenario. Another explanation is that twins run in your (or your partner’s) family or that you have a friend with twins.
The bottom line is that it’s impossible to have twins simply because you’ve been dreaming about them.
While the above scenarios involved planned pregnancies, it’s also possible to have a dream about an unplanned pregnancy. The probable explanation for this type of dream is underlying anxiety you might be experiencing due to the possibility of getting pregnant unintentionally.
However, just like the other pregnancy-related dreams, simply dreaming about an unplanned pregnancy doesn’t mean it will come true.
Not all dreams about pregnancy are necessarily “dreamy,” and this is perfectly normal. Anxiety-related dreams could be attributed to fears about being pregnant, or perhaps you are already pregnant and are experiencing some underlying worries.
A likely source of this anxiety is related to hormone fluctuations, which are more prominent during pregnancy, but can also occur throughout the month in non-pregnant women.
It’s difficult to root pregnancy dreams as factual, as the research behind them is minimal. However, here are some facts about dreams that we currently do know:
•The more you sleep, the more dreams you’re likely to have. This includes daytime naps.
•If you are pregnant, you could be dreaming more due to increased sleep time from pregnancy-related fatigue.
•An old study from 1993 also showed that the further along you are in your pregnancy, the more prominent your dreams may become.
•Dreams can become opportunities for creativity. A 2005 study showed that dreamers may remember a newly formed idea in their sleep that logic would have otherwise prevented them from thinking up during hours of wakefulness.
•An occasional nightmare is normal, but frequent nightmares could indicate a sleep disorder that might be related to your mental health. These ought to be addressed with a professional.
While dreams can sometimes seem very real, dreams about specific scenarios such as pregnancy rarely come true. The research on dreams isn’t concrete, but psychologists theorize that these scenario-specific types of dreams have much more to do with your subconscious thoughts than they do with any type of sleep-induced fortune telling.
If you continue to have pregnancy dreams that you find bothersome, or if you’re having sleep disturbances, consider seeing a therapist to work through them. This could be a sign that you need to talk to someone to work through deep emotional thoughts.
- Kristeen Cherney
- You're really hoping to get pregnant soon. For some people, pregnancy dreams are connected to the fact that the person is thinking a lot about having a baby in the near future, says Rafael Pelayo, MD, a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine.
- You have a fear of getting pregnant right now. The more confusing scenario is when you dream that you’re carrying a child (or that you take a positive pregnancy test, perhaps) but you’re 100 percent not ready to think about babies and have never carried a baby.
- Something in your life triggered a memory of a past pregnancy. These dreams may also be related to random memories about a past pregnancy of your own or someone else's, Dr. Pelayo says.
- You're 'giving birth' in another way, like to a big project you've been working on. Dreams about being pregnant might be about a different kind of birth, so to speak.
Mar 1, 2024 · Howell adds these dreams are common among people going through significant developments, like working with a healer, therapist or grief counselor to resolve past issues and expand their mindset. 4 ...
Aug 25, 2023 · Generally, dreaming about pregnancy when you’re not actually pregnant could reflect personal growth, transformation, or the anticipation of a significant life change or event that is on the ...
Jun 22, 2022 · 3. You're facing unrelated stress or anxiety. If you haven't been thinking about pregnancy in your waking hours, a pregnancy dream could represent more generalized feelings of stress or anxiety ...
